The present invention relates to alarm devices and, more particularly, to a passive, personal alarm device.
Personal safety in urban areas is of increasing concern to the populace. This is especially true of individuals, particularly women, who must walk through isolated areas at night or other times of day when few people are in the vicinity. Such situations arise, for example, when nurses or other night-shift workers walk to parking lots after work or on weekends. If such people are assaulted, particularly with intent to rape, a method is needed of alerting the surrounding neighborhood, or a central security station, and/or temporarily distracting the attacker to facilitate escape.
Several security equipment manufacturers, both in this country and abroad, have produced hand-held, personal devices intended either to incapacitate an attacker through the use of an agent such as tear gas, or to alert the neighborhood with a very loud noise. These devices all require the user to take some action to activate the same when attacked. Unfortunately, that is frequently impossible, either because of physical incapacitation or because of inaction due to a temporary state of shock during the initial moments of the attack. Furthermore, experience has shown that these devices seldom are used effectively enough to deter an attacker. Also, an attacker has the opportunity to deactivate devices of this type.
Property-protecting portable alarm devices with passive switches have also been described. These devices, which contain various complex switching mechanisms, must generally be fixed in a particular place or orientation to be maintained in the active mode. They can be quickly deactivated by an attacker and do not have the capability of remaining silent during false alarm situations or during a momentary, inadvertant actuation.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a personal alarm device that will be activated during an attack without the need for positive action by the user.
It is another object to provide an alarm device of the aforementioned type, where the user can correct for accidental release of the activating switch so as to prevent activation of the alarm system.
It is yet another object to provide an alarm device of the type above-described, which is resistant to deactivation by an attacker.
The above, and other objects as may hereinafter appear, are achieved by an alarm device activated by release of a spring-loaded button switch which, when held down, opens an otherwise closed circuit. A time delay element in the circuit prevents sounding of the alarm for a predetermined period in the event of an accidental release of the actuating button. The button is released, either purposefully or inadvertantly, during an attack and the alarm is sounded after expiration of the time delay. Once activated, the alarm device can be deactivated only by repositioning a number of coded switches in a pattern known only to the alarm user.